If you’re into what’s happening in the modern music world and especially the modern metal scene then you’re no doubt already familiar with the band Periphery.  To say they are carrying one of the biggest buzzes in the industry right now is an understatement.  While you may have heard of them, and even be a huge fan of their music, what you may not know is that they are continually focused on giving music lessons and teaching any and all up-and-coming musicians who want to learn.  Giving lessons has become a standard part of just about every tour they do and in a time where other bands find they are struggling to stay afloat on the road, Periphery uses this approach to not only bring in some invaluable extra money while on tour but also to enrich the next generation of musicians and create a stronger bond with their fans.

Periphery’s drummer Matt Halpern has gone way above and beyond with Bandhappy.com, a forthcoming website that has been many years in the making.  Once a musician creates an account on Bandhappy they are then able to pay for and take LIVE, online or on tour music lessons from a plethora of musicians and teachers from all over the world. If one would like to teach, anyone can apply, and once approved, all teachers gain access to an online profile where they can set their schedules, rates, and teach either online or on tour, anytime from anywhere – it’s easy to use and gives complete control to the teacher, enabling them to provide a truly personal learning experience. Perhaps the most awesome feature of Bandhappy is that it provides a great opportunity for students to take LIVE and personal lessons from some of the top names in the industry.  Something like that can be a complete dream come true and is something that’s never be made available before.  I certainly couldn’t imagine myself when I was 16 being able to take a guitar lesson from Adam Jones-my mind would have exploded!

Matt was kind enough to give me all the details on Bandhappy and more in the following interview.

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You asked and Misha answered. Today, the Periphery guitarist/mastermind and #20 on our list of the Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, tackles more MS reader-submitted questions about gear, guitars, and more. This week: Misha’s preferred method for recording guitars directly to a computer, the best way to record drums on a budget, and how Misha created the sexy synth/drum loops on the Periphery and Animals as Leaders albums.

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He’s baaaaaaack. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and staring down a long summer break from touring, Misha has returned to his duties as resident gear guru / nerd-face at the MS Mansion and is ready to answer the questions you asked him last time. After the jump, Bulb tells you how he tunes his 7 and 8 string guitars (and approaches writing with each), and what his favorite wireless system is. As always, feel free to ask Misha questions you’d like answered in future columns in the comments.

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Last year Periphery guitarist Misha “Bulb” Mansoor penned five excellent columns for MetalSucks in which he explored the finer points of gear nerdery; how to construct a “big” studio tone, how to differ those tones from live tones, and contemplating completely ditching speaker cabinets live were just some of the topics that gave us nerd boners the likes of which haven’t been seen since we saw a hundred Princess Leia costumes at Comic Con. But then Periphery became mega rock stars and lived on the road for months on end, leaving little time for Misha to publicly muse on the inner workings of his Axe-FX.

By now I’m sure you see where this is going: Bulb is back! And he wants to know what YOU want to know with regards to guitars, gear, recording and the like. How does he get that killer snare tone? What kinds of pickups does he use? Why is Periphery such a piece-of-shit band? Now’s your chance to ask Misha whatever guitar/tech-related question is burning a hole in your brain, so ask away and your question just might be answered by the man himself in his next column. Go ahead and troll all you want… he feeds on the stuff for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

- MS dudes

The “djent” / bedroom producer-musician scene has gone from a tiny niche community on the Internet to a worldwide phenomenon in just a few years; in 2010, it’s a serious presence in the scene that any metal fan can feel. But how did it all get started? No one would know better than TesseracT guitarist Acle who’s been there since the very beginning. To that end, here’s Acle with a quick little history lesson:

It was probably back in 2002 / 2003 when the online community of producer-musicians who spawned the bands of this new wave of progressive metal, or “djent”, began to come together. A key unique factor that set this community / scene / then-to-be-genre apart from others is that it had no geographical base; people from all over the world were (and still are) sharing ideas, recording parts for each other and even jamming via the internet. Like punk came from the bars, clubs and rehearsal rooms of New York, this scene started in chat rooms, forums and home studios. This made it easy for many like minded people to find each other, something which would have been impossible without the internet.

Before I really had any recording experience I’d occasionally check the Meshuggah, Toontrack and Harmony Central forums. I’m sure there must still be some ancient posts on there! They were good places to pick up guitar technique tips, achieving certain tones and basic recording things. I learnt Meshuggah’s famous “djent” chord on their forum which is basically a normal power chord with an added 5th which gives that iconic “djenty” Meshuggah sound. The term “djent” just meant the sound of this “meshuggah chord,” not a scene.

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If any of you guys know me, you know that I have a permanent hard-on for my Fractal AxeFx Ultra, and although some of you may hate my tone, you would be silly to think that you couldn’t dial in a tone that your weird ears like, and then some. This one is for the gear nerds out there.

This is more than a Fractal plug, I swear. Let’s call this more of an open test/experiment in progress because I am in the midst of quite an awesome dilemma at the moment. I am stuck between deciding on how best to use my AxeFx in a live situation, because both options it affords are amazing.

We just did a little tour in Australia with Dillinger and Maylene, and on that tour we were getting amps from backline companies (read: different amps every day). So we figured the best way to get some consistency would be to plug our AxeFxs into the effects loop return of the amps and use them for their tube power sections. This worked out pretty damn well for the most part; you could hear how each different poweramp had its own distinct sound, but when it was awesome, it was AWESOME. Only at one show did I actually get the amp I had asked for, and that was an Engl Invader (150 to be more precise) and that EL34 poweramp sounded so godly that I thought perhaps that was the way to go. Or at least something similar: a good tube poweramp (may make more sense for a rack unit ala Fryette 2/50/2 or Mesa 2:90) through a 4×12 cabinet. Good old Preamp->Tube Poweramp->Cab->Mic->PA in a live context, which is what 99% of bands do nowadays. And with this setup you get that amazing feel of a tube amp and that response they are known for.

However there is another option with the AxeFx, and that is going direct.

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Yep, we talked a lot of smack on Joey Belladonna this week, much to the chagrin of, well, an awful lot of you. I think we’re done for a little while… but I can’t make any promises. Our job at MetalSucks is to amuse ourselves first and foremost, and, well, we thought it was pretty damned funny. So ppppfffftttt.

Here’s what else went down this week:

• We debuted the title track from Nachtmystium’s new album, Addicts.
• Genetic’s Dallas Coyle called us “influential,” Disfear’s Tomas Lindberg shared some Maryland Deathfest memories, The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley unveiled his top four Taco Riffs, Cynic’s Paul Masvidal got burglarized, As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa made some new revelations about L O S T, God Forbid’s Doc Coyle worried about turning into an old geezer, Daath’s Eyal Levi gave us a lesson in stage etiquette, and Batillus’ Geoff Summers gave us a new studio update.
• We spoke to The Melvins’ Buzz Osborne, Periphery’s Misha “Bulb” Mansoor, Testament’s Chuck Billy, and Sick of it All’s Lou Koller.
• We checked out new releases by Korn and Ufomammut and Year of No Light.
• Is Mastodon’s Brent Hinds a Mastodick?
• Sergeant D sez Cunthunt777 are your new favorite band.
• Don’t worry, baby, Dr. Danzig gonna cure what ails you.
• Hot chick loves Nergal, hates the Bible.
• Boy oh boy, do we love the new Limp Bizkit cover art!
• If you’re looking for new band members, don’t do this.

Alright. We’re gonna go get drunk and crank We’ve Come For You All in John Bush’s honor. Have a great weekend, everyone.

-AR

A few hours ago authorities evacuated Times Square for the second time in a week after someone found a “suspicious cooler” on the street. Of course, everyone was just being overly cautious, but as long as it doesn’t infringe on my civil rights, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. I think Vince was in Michigan when 9/11 went down, but I was here, and if I never see another tank rolling down my street again or run all over the city because there’s no cell service and I need to make sure that all of my friends and family are still alive, well, I’ll be good.

While I nurse my PTSD, here are some happier, metalier things that happened this week:

• We’re streaming Keep of Kalessin’s new album, Reptilian. We also debuted new music by Lamb of God and The Funeral Pyre.
• We also also also debuted new videos by Soulfly and Cancer Bats.
• We also also also also debuted our new cooking show, Cooking Contaminated.
• Cynic’s Paul Masvidal discussed the shape of silence, Periphery’s Bulb taught you how to get that “big” studio tone, As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa had some questions about L O S T, Matt from Rumpelstiltskin Grinder fondly recalled Maryland Deathfest, and Batillus bassist Willi Stabenau gave us a studio update.
• We talked to Darkest Hour’s Mike Schleibaum, Reign Supreme’s Jay Pepito,  Jackyl’s Jesse James Dupree, and unveiled part one of our massive two-part interview with Buzz Osborne.
• We checked out the latest release by The Howling Wind.
• Does the fact that Mike Portnoy is touring with Avenged Sevenfold make you wanna see ‘em?
• We don’t want Joey Belladonna to return to Anthrax. Seriously.
• Sergeant D. wants to know if u mosh 4 Christ???
• Damnocracy’s Evan Seinfeld and his porno Howdy Doody also do bar mitzvahs.
• We wish there was really such a thing as a Slayer burrito.

Next week brings even more betterer br00tal goodness – interviews, debuts, guest blogs, all that shit. It’s gonna get real up in this bitch. See ya then.

-AR

MOAR IST ALWAYS BETTER!!!!

Ok guys, so since we started off with some live tone tips last time, I figured for this column we’d talk a bit about my experience in the studio. I say “my experience” because unfortunately there are few absolute truths when it comes to anything having to do with art, as it is all painfully subjective blahblahblah… so please feel free to take all this info with a grain of salt. This is just some info that I really wish I had known about when I was just starting to record; instead I had to figure it out the hard way, so maybe this can save some time and trouble for a few of you guys!

I’m sure some of you guys already know the stuff I am about to cover in the next few paragraphs, but a select few will bother reading the whole damn thing anyway and then complain that you know it all already and that it was a waste of time reading, etc. If I am describing someone that sounds scarily similar to you, I recommend not reading this column. Just stop right here and you’ll save that many minutes of your life! You’re welcome!

The first thing I want to talk about is quad (or more) tracking and some of the misconceptions that surround it. A lot of people ask me if I quad track and if it is indeed the key to getting a “big” sound when recording guitars. The answer is tricky, as I wouldn’t say it makes recordings sound big in the traditional sense. Two important side effects (sometimes desirable, sometimes not) are 1) for lack of a better word “squishier” sounding guitars, and 2) an almost chorus-like effect on the guitar. The reasons for this are pretty simple: when you have 4 or more guitars playing the same part, because of the nature of trying to do exactly the same thing but not quite achieving it because you are a human being, the attack of the transients doesn’t always line up. This is the case with 2 guitars, but it’s exponentially harder to achieve with 4. Your attack ends up getting sort of “averaged out” between the 4 note attacks, and it makes the result not hit quite as hard. Because of the minute differences in the 4 takes, those differences really add up. Especially if you tend to pick hard, the guitars will chorus against each other because of the minute pitch differences at every spot.

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I know all of you guise have been in the situation where you are at a show trying to enjoy a band, but all you hear out of the guitars is just “pshshhrhhhshrhhshhsh” or something similar to distorted white noise and that flubby low-end fart sound that we all know and love dearly. Fingers be a movin’ but the sound remains pretty much constant.

Now there are several potential reasons for this: some are out of your control like a shitty sound guy, system or room, and those things can make even a great sound engineer have an even worse time than when you French fry when you were supposed to Pizza. But there are aspects within your control which can facilitate or sometimes even remedy those issues to a degree. And that’s what I want to talk about. For those of us who play shows regularly and/or tour we can bitch all day about the things out of our control that make our lives miserable, but sadly those things aren’t likely to change any time soon. But I feel like I see a lot of people who could make their live tone that much better before it’s even miked up, as it’s near impossible to polish a turd, especially not with a line check that’s less than five minutes.

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Another day at Harpo’s Theatre in Detroit: white metal bands, black neighborhood, beefed-up security, and glaring eyes – nothing says “Welcome to Michigan” like playing here. Although forward-thinking on the racial front is lackluster at best, we still have a very prominent and devoted metal crowd ready to use the few dollars they have left to buy a ticket and get shit-faced.

It is here, during the MetalSucks co-sponsored Thrash & Burn tour, that I recently had the opportunity to interview a band that seemingly everyone at MS has been jizzing their pants over: Periphery.These guys just got signed with Sumerian, and THANK GOD. They can absolutely shred, and even if you’re not too keen on clean vocals, I think you need to get the stick out of your ass and check these guys out ASAP.

Their soon-to-be “mass appeal” is more then I would normally advocate. Nonetheless, just because they will most likely be your younger sister or brother’s favorite new band (if your sister of brother is totally bad-ass), they may also be yours as well. There is no way you can deny their talent. Everything about this band is correct. Everything is in motion. They are insoluble. They are the lime in your tequila. They just… work.

The band’s founder, Misha Mansoor, is not only super-talented, but also gives his music away. For free, as Kip Wingerschmidt recently informed us. And not just one or two songs, either – over one-hundred tracks, in studio-quality audio. If that doesn’t convince you to check them out, then you need to check yourself off. Get it?

Either way, Misha and go-guitarist Alex Bois were so very gracious to sit down with me in their conversion van and tell me all about how they got to where they are now, and where they are going to go. I would assume they might dominate most of the Sound Scan posts here at MS in 2010. But hey, to be fair, so will Miley Cyrus. So don’t listen to me, I just have a vagina and I am really, really cool and super smart.

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Ever since energy drinks became the new weed, there are so many goddamn gears to be done grindeded…….and Bethesda, MD’s BULB aka Misha Mansoor aka guitar player for rad tech-prog band/recent-signee-to-Sumerian-Records Periphery (who Vince has raved about previously here and here) is crankin em out left and riggity-right…

This dude Misha seems to be so prolific that one awesome band outputting an ample amount of material is not nearly enough, so under the moniker Bulb (an old defunct band name) he continues to make tons of tracks and give them away for free online…….says-eth the young man himself:

Myspace doesn’t let you download songs for free anymore, and I’m all about
giving away ideas and demos and whatever for free, so you guys can
enjoy the songs, put them on your mp3 player, burn CDs for you and
your friends and just generally enjoy the music I enjoy making!

GO HERE: http://www.soundclick.com/bulb or http://www.soundclick.com/periphery

It’s the same site, but both names work for it in case you forget one!

There are about 130 songs/clips/random ideas up on there now and they are all up for download.

You do have to sign up if you aren’t already registered, but it’s quick
and FREE, and totally worth it since you can have tons of our music to
pick and choose from!

There’s no catch, all I ask is that in exchange you burn a bunch of cds
for your friends and help spread the word about Bulb and Periphery!!

Enjoy!!

-Bulb

I’m not gonna try to pick one that can represent this dude and his cannon, so follow the links above and check out his music.

If you are so inclined, you may also visit Bulb on MySpace, visit Periphery on MySpace, or read about the infamous MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys…….take your pick.

Now go get those gears a grindin!!

-KW

MetalSucks reader Ramsey K. recently wrote us a letter with the following: “I’m writing to you guys in hope that you will at least post about these two bands that I’m going to mention, because they honestly deserve a lot of recognition for being awesome. I see that you guys like Sikth and Meshuggah and a whole slew of crazy prog metal, so I hope you will at least give these bands a listen or two at their myspaces.”

Touche! The bands in question are Periphery and Bulb, the latter of which is a “solo” project of the guitarist of the former. The headline of this piece pretty much says it all, so if you like those bands then you best check these out.

Also, it turns out that Periphery’s ex-singer Jake Veredika (whose voice is on their MySpace recordings) filled in on vocals for Divine Heresy after Tommy Cummings left / was fired mid-tour in May. Not that this has any bearing on why you should or shouldn’t like these bands. But, ya know, FYI.

-VN

[Periphery on MySpace]
[Bulb on MySpace]